Have been coloring since God was a child, have been light blonde for 4 years. Box blonde, nothing special, have used a variety of brands. Usually Perfect 10. Until todayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy.....

Bought Clairol Natural Instincts, on sale of course, color #5, "Champagne on Ice". The girl on the box, looking oh so happy with HER curly hair all blonde and bouncy. Well her pic is telling me "Hey, try to go down a shade and see if you get a golden blonde".

So, I mix the bottle and the coloring liquid, do my roots first, let sit 25 mins or son, then add to the ends, and then I start to thing...."Hmm, this looks a bit dark".

Denial makes an appearance, saying:

"All, it always looks dark when wet".

So I continue. I let sit another 15 mins, take a shower, towel off with my non curly offensive tea towel, and low and behold, I am now a CHOCOLATE brunette!

WTF?????????????

I am amazed at how calm I remained. The first thought was ".......and my Deva hair cut with Tiffany is only 3 days away!". Yes, I am driving 4.5 hours tomorrow to Tampa for the dual purpose hair cut and visit USF with my college bound son. OMG! I am a brunette, I have been brunette since I was in my 20's, and I donít what it feels like. Guess I am going to find out, huh?

I have a feeling I have manifested this into my life, ala "The Secret" as I have been wondering what itís be like to be brunette again, but never thought Id go thru with it. I swear, when I bought it today, I had no designs to be dark.

Will my waves return? Or will they abandon me due to my negligence. My hair is still wet, and looks extremely straight. I am concerned I have offended my darling hair, just as the Re:coil has brought me such great results. Just as I am about to meet the "Curl Whisperer" Tiffany....

I wonder....could God be telling me there is a man out there who loves chocolate brunettes? Hmmmmm.....

Seriously, relax. At least it was Natural Instincts, which is not totally permanent color. We won't have enough time for a correction while you are here, unfortunately, but we will definitely talk about your options.

Guano: A week or so ago I used Natural Instincts as well and the light brunette that the box showed turned my hair black. I will never touch that stuff again. My curl seemed to diminish as well but it's ok now.

I sympathize - I'm trying to save a bit of money and so coloured my hair myself yesterday. The box said "chestnut" and looked a nice normal brown (like I always have, it's my natural colour, I just dye to cover the grey). Chestnut my backside, I now have hair one shade lighter than black, not good with my pale skin, ugh.

It comes out with the co-washing, too. You don't need shampoo to wash it away. I'd just wash your hair (wet and rinse along with co-washing) a bit more often to help the wash out along.

So sorry you have to go thru this. Maybe you should call Natural Instincts and complain, since you did buy blonde, there is no way you should be brown now, especially considering you were blonde to begin with.

cowash: VO5 kiwi limecondition: Say Yes to Carrots (also leave in a smidge)styling: Marc Anthony Strictly Curls and Herbal Essence's Totally Twisted and DevaCurl Set it FreeI am finally embracing my crazy curls!modified CG since Jan. 2009 I am a Jersey Girl!CG was the best thing I ever did for my hair. Ever.

I'm wondering if somehow the box was opened in the store and the wrong shade was put in the box you used. I often see hair color boxes at Walmart or Target that have been opened. Maybe kids switching around colors as a prank.

Seriously, relax. At least it was Natural Instincts, which is not totally permanent color. We won't have enough time for a correction while you are here, unfortunately, but we will definitely talk about your options.

Originally Posted by StruttsWife

Tiffany, you're the stylist everyone dreams of having. Can you please clone yourself?

Thanks for the advice, I will def try the olive oil. I double checked 2 boxes, as I bought 2 on sale. The color bottle in each has the number 5 on it, just like the outside of the box, indicating they are the same. Its just this color is very dark and misleading. I didnt do a strand test cus Ive been coloring forever, and never had a color that was so far off the indicated color result.

My hair is in pretty good condition since going CG a year ago, so I guess thats a blessing. I read that hot water will help the color fade faster, so I filled the sink with hot water and dipped my hair into almost to the scalp area (Not wanting to scorch my scalp!) and I can see the water turning brown! Yay!! Its coming out, slowly....ugh...lesson learned, always do a strand test when using a new color.

It couldve been worse, the color could be permanent, thus probably causing more damage and expense at removing it.

This is why my sig line motto states: strand test!
When choosing a color, it is always best to choose one about 2-3 shades lighter than the color you want. It always goes darker on curly hair. Also, you must go by your natural haircolor, not your current haircolor (bottle). The boxes can be deceiving that way.

I'm glad it's lightening up, maybe a lighter shade of brunette will be fine for you.

Since Ive colored my hair for a thousand years, I dont normally test. but this was a demi-perm color, which I got by accident because I cant frickin see antyhing up close without my damn glasses. I wouldve bought permanent. Im assuming the demi has the innate tendency to automatically make color darker than a perm color.

Ive co washed and olive oiled my head a few times today and it is somewhat lightend. If I can do this 8 times a day I should be abck to normal in 3-4 days

Ive co washed and olive oiled my head a few times today and it is somewhat lightend. If I can do this 8 times a day I should be abck to normal in 3-4 days

Originally Posted by LadyChristina

LOL! Glad to see you have your sense of humor after this episode! I hope it will swiftly fade, but 8 times a day sounds a little excessive. I think you should definitely contact the company and complain vociferously. That just isn't right.

Just wanted to mention that for years I used drugstore hair color (usually L'Oreal Castings). One time (and one time only) I decided to try Natural Instincts. WOW, did my hair HATE that stuff! No problem with the color, but it just fried my hair something awful. (BTW, I'm loving the Robert Craig color -- you might consider switching to it. It's really gentle on hair and scalp and very easy to work with.)

Hope you have a great time on your trip anyway, and I know you'll have a great haircut.

I did look into Robert Craig, but it doesnt lighten hair, because it doesnt have ammonia (I think), so since Im a natural dark brown (Now, more gray than brown), it wont lift the color. Thats the problem since I want to remain blond. (We do have more fun, ya know,,,,Ive been withmy head in a kitchen sink all day..Fun Fun Fun).

I leave early inthe morn to drive to Tampa to visit USF and then Sat to see Tiffnay (). My appointment is after lunch time, so I hope she eats early cus once she sees my puke brown crown, she might erupt!